
TWENTY-TWO•SECRETS
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Lita had been sitting in the backseat of Paul's car for a solid ten minutes. The silence was deafening and didn't seem to be ending anytime soon, so Lita spoke up, not wanting to sit in it any longer. "Is Jade coming anytime soon?" she asked Paul.
He looked at Lita through his rearview mirror. "She'll be here soon," Paul said with a sigh.
Lita looked out the window at the empty parking lot and saw Jade stumbling toward them. "Is she drunk?" Lita asked, her brows furrowing.
"Shit," Paul muttered, pushing open the car door and jogging over to Jade. Lita quickly followed, not wanting to see her friend stumble around like that any longer.
"Jade, what the hell?" Paul exclaimed, holding her up. Jade had an odd smile on her face that made Lita uneasy, but seeing the worried look on Paul's face, she hurried to support Jade from the other side.
As they managed to get Jade into the car, her laughter punctuated the effort. Lita let out a sigh of relief, lazily climbing into the back seat once again. She looked towards Paul, who seemed distressed as he ran a hand through his hair while Jade closed her eyes, giggling about something.
Paul glanced back at Lita, who gave him an awkward, tight-lipped smile. He turned the key, and the car lights flooded the empty parking lot before shining onto the road.
The drive was awkward, with little for either Lita or Paul to say. The only sound breaking the silence was Jade's occasional giggles, causing both Lita and Paul to give her odd looks. What did she find so incredibly funny?
"I have a secret!" Jade blurted out, hiccuping as she did, followed by another fit of giggles. Paul sighed. "What are you talking about?" he asked.
Lita's brows furrowed. A secret? What could Jade possibly be hiding?
"I can't tell you!" Jade said drunkenly, folding her arms and looking out the window.
"Just tell me," Paul said, rolling his eyes.
"Alright, I will... but don't tell Paul," she said in a hushed voice. Paul didn't say anything, allowing her to continue. "Lita..." she started, followed by a hiccup, "Lita and I kissed!" she said before giggling and turning away from Paul, whose eyes instantly widened. Lita's heart dropped at those words.
"You— you what?" Paul said, a slight stutter in his voice.
"We kissed!" Jade exclaimed before whispering, "And I think I liked it." Lita didn't know what to say as the car slowed down. Paul looked shocked, frozen in his seat.
The tension in the car was palpable. Lita could feel her heart racing as she tried to find the right words to explain. "Paul I-" He quickly cut her off "just don't...don't say anything right now." He said before continuing to drive.
Lita had never been more thankful to be home, but she paused a second before opening the door, sparing a glance to Paul she could tell he was hurt whilst Jade has dozed off oblivious to the big mess she had made, "I'm really sorry–"
Paul's hands tightened around the steering wheel, "please just go" he said not even bothering to face her, Lita had to understand pushing the door open and quickly getting out of his car. She watched as it quickly sped off leaving the darkness of her driveway to envelope her.
Lita felt sick to her stomach she couldn't deny that yes, she had never planned on telling Paul or anyone else, she thought Jade and herself had that mutual understanding but clearly not. She knew she'd wake up to a bunch of messages the next day from Jade explaining how she never meant to say that and blaming it all on the alcohol, but Lita was used to it, the lies and the let down she knew she'd tell Jade how it was okay and take her back immediately. It'd be like it never happened because that's just what she did.
Lita didn't know why but she found herself stopping at the kitchen table. Her hand traced the edge and there she saw it, a small little letter and a tiny box. Opening the letter silently she thought it looked oddly familiar, it was almost exactly the same as the letter she had received inviting her here, of course only with words wishing for her to be gone.
Her mother was bored of Lita now that she had gotten to show off her brand new shiny life, it didn't look so shiny to Lita. The words on the letter read 'My dearest daughter thank you for attending my wedding. Your plane tickets are in the box below this letter love, your Mother' tossing the letter aside she opened up the box and carefully read the date, two days from now she'd be gone, back to her dull existence but at least she would see Mateo and her father once more.
Those thoughts brought her mind back to her brother, opting her to take a seat at the table and call her father. "Hello?" a voice echoed out from her phone "Hey Dad it's um- well you know who I am." she said, opting for her father to chuckle "At this old age I think I might forget soon we haven't seen you in so long, when are you coming home?"
"Soon in about two days"
"Mateo will be very excited to hear that." Her father said with a chuckle "How'd his surgery go?" "Good, really good actually, he's just sleeping at the moment he had a hell of a day, as you did I'm sure how was your Mother's wedding?"
"It was interesting...there was a moment when I thought Charlie was going to say no." Lita said a smile on her face. "I bet your mother looked furious!" Her father said laughing before stopping and quickly apologizing to someone she couldn't hear.
"Who's that?" Lita asked. "Just the nurses honey, anyways what's your plans whilst your still there." "Probably just gonna watch TV then call a taxi to get the airport...nothing to crazy." Lita said with a sigh "A taxi?" Her father questioned "Maria isn't driving you" He asked with a confused voice. "Yeah no...she's on her honeymoon." "A honeymoon? God, they've been living together for so long, what do they need a honeymoon for?"
"Probably a getaway from me and Bella, Charlie's daughter." She said causing him to hum in understanding. "Well Mija, I'm going to head to bed...you should do the same, I'll have Mateo call you as soon as he's awake." Lita smiled "Alright I love you Dad." "Love you too honey." he said before the familiar beep of the phone played signaling that he hung up. With a sigh Lita stood up glancing back at the letter her mother had given her and walking back upstairs to her room.
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